The truth hurts - and the truth is the last two "booms" actually weakened the American middle class, setting it up for further slippage during down-turns. The right decries "class warfare"but we'll have it if the wealth gap continues to grow. Why? Because we're an aspirational society at heart, at the very core, and without realistic aspirations the modern American society is dead in the water. Elizabeth Warren, an important voice, makes great sense.

The truth hurts - and the truth is the last two "booms" actually weakened the American middle class, setting it up for further slippage during down-turns. The right decries "class warfare"but we'll have it if the wealth gap continues to grow. Why? Because we're an aspirational society at heart, at the very core, and without realistic aspirations the modern American society is dead in the water. Elizabeth Warren, an important voice, makes great sense.

My Dirty Life & Times

Tom Watson is a journalist, author, media critic, entrepreneur and consultant who has worked at the confluence of media technology and social change for more than 20 years. This long-running blog is my personal outlet - an idiosyncratic view of the world. "My dirty life and times" is a nod to the late, great Warren Zevon because some days I feel like my shadow's casting me.